Democratic senators on Tuesday announced a “war room” to fight changes at the Social Security Administration (SSA).
The initiative, spearheaded by Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Ron Wyden of Oregon, is a direct response to sweeping changes imposed by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an administrative body created by President Donald Trump and overseen by Elon Musk.
The “war room” will serve as a central effort to lobby against efforts to change Social Security, visit field offices, hold town halls, share Social Security beneficiaries’ stories and relay information on social media.
“Social Security is under attack. Social Security is under siege. The chainsaw is pointed at their earned Social Security benefits. We believe Republicans have manufactured a crisis at Social Security,” Wyden said at a news conference.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo
“We should be expanding Social Security benefits, not cutting them. And we should be asking the richest Americans to pay their fair share into the program. It’s time to fight for Social Security,” Warren said at the news conference. “We can protect Social Security from Trump and Musk’s greed and build a future where everyone in this nation can retire with dignity.”
DOGE has also drawn scrutiny for overseeing what it calls a “major cleanup” of the SSA’s death records. The agency said that it had updated more than 9.9 million records for number holders listed as age 120 and above, marking them as deceased.
“For the past 4 weeks, @SocialSecurity has been executing a major cleanup of their records,” DOGE wrote in a post on Musk-owned X, formerly Twitter. “Approximately 9.9 million numberholders, all listed age 120+, have now been marked deceased.” The post added: “Another ~2 million to go.”
The effort followed Musk’s earlier claims that millions of deceased individuals were still receiving benefits.
“Maybe Twilight is real and there are a lot of vampires collecting Social Security,” Musk wrote in a social media post cited by Newsweek.
However, the SSA clarified that the individuals in question were not receiving payments.
“The data referenced in the media pertain to individuals whose records lack a recorded date of death. While these individuals may not be receiving benefits, it is crucial for the agency to uphold accurate and complete records,” the SSA said on March 5.
Concerns have also surfaced about technical problems with the SSA’s website. Some users reported being unable to log in or received messages incorrectly indicating that they were not receiving payments. The SSA acknowledged “a couple of ‘brief disruptions’ lasting about 20 minutes each.”
“There have been a trickle of stories about troubles accessing Social Security webpages,” said Linda Benesch, spokeswoman for advocacy group Social Security Works. “It could turn into a flood in the coming weeks and months.”
The creation of the war room coincides with a delayed vote on Trump’s nominee to lead the SSA, Frank Bisignano. The Senate Finance Committee failed to reach a quorum Tuesday, postponing a confirmation vote that had been scheduled. Wyden said a whistleblower reported that Bisignano “has been talking to people at Social Security every day for weeks now.”
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, an Idaho Republican, said Bisignano does not have a role at SSA and was not involved in decision-making. Crapo said the nominee disclosed prior communications with multiple SSA officials and defended them as part of preparation for his confirmation hearing.
“Businesses would bring him on board when they want to cut, cut, cut,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said of Bisignano, who oversaw layoffs as CEO at First Data and Fiserv. “You don’t bring Bisignano on board to head the agency if you want to strengthen it. You bring him on if you want to emaciate it. Putting Bisignano in charge of Social Security is hiring an arsonist to run the fire station.”